Moniuszko: Ballet Music Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra; Antoni Wit

• Stanisław Moniuszko (1819 - 1872):
• 1Concert Polonaise in A Major07:51
• 2Ballet Music from Hrabina: I. Zefir goniący Florę08:07
• 3Ballet Music from Hrabina: II. Neptun na Wiśle04:06
• 4Ballet Music from Hrabina: III. Taniec Satyrów03:41
• 5Ballet Music from Hrabina: IV. Kotyljon02:17
• 6Marsz żałobny Antoniego Orłowskiego (Funeral March of Antoni Orłowski)11:41
• 7Polonaise in F Major, "Obywatelski" (Civic)06:07
• 8Halka: Halka, Act I: Mazurka04:06
• 9Halka: Halka, Act III: Tańce góralskie (Highlanders' Dances)04:55
• 10Ballet Music for Otto Nicolai's opera The Merry Wives of Windsor09:38
• 11Monte Christo: Mazurka04:37
• 12Jawnuta: Taniec cygański (Gypsy Dance)04:31
• 13Polka, "Leokadia"01:44
• 14The Haunted Manor: Straszny Dwór (The Haunted Manor), Act IV: Mazurka05:16
• Total Runtime01:18:37

Info for Moniuszko: Ballet Music

Stanislaw Moniuszko was Poland's leading nineteenth-century opera composer, and has been called the man who bridges the gap between Chopin and Szymanowski. In addition to operatic works he also composed purely orchestral music, and this recording reveals that his essentially lyric style could funciton perfectly in the non-vocal medium. There is thematically memorable music from the comic opera Hrabina (The Countess), as well as enduring Polish-flavored dance scenes from his most popular and famous stage work, Halka. The spirited Mazurka from Straszny Dwor (The Haunted Manor), Moniuszko's crowning operatic achievement, draws freely and inventively from his national heritage.

Features a long-time Naxos stalwart, conductor Antoni Wit leading the Warsaw Philharmonic which is considered to be Poland’s leading orchestra.

This album contains orchestra excerpts from Moniszko’s internationally best known opera, Halka. As a critic in 1928 wrote, “no Polish dramatic composer had previously expressed by dance-scenes the Polish national temperament as perfectly as Moniuszko.”

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Antoni Wit, conductor

No biography found.

Booklet for Moniuszko: Ballet Music